NEW ORLEANS — Chris Culliver apologized Thursday for his anti-gay comments and said he would be accepting of a gay teammate.

Culliver, 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh and several players did not diminish the weight of Culliver's words from a Tuesday interview with a shock-jock radio host.

"It is a big deal," Culliver said. "I'm addressing it so it does not escalate and bring distractions to my teammates."

Thursday marked the players' final media session before Sunday's Super Bowl XLVII against the Baltimore Ravens. Culliver sat at a round table and was engulfed by dozens of media inside a hotel ballroom.

"I apologize. I'm sorry," Culliver said. "It's not what I feel in my heart. I know I will learn from this."

Somewhat baited by radio-show host Artie Lange during Tueday's Media Day at the Superdome, Culliver said homosexual players wouldn't be accepted inside the 49ers locker room. Two days later, Culliver changed his tune after talking to a gay relative, along with Harbaugh and other team officials.

"I'm not trying to approach many guys because I don't want this to be a distraction," Culliver said.

Coach Jim Harbaugh had a private conversation with Culliver on Wednesday once the anti-gay comments become widely reported, but the team was not addressed as a whole on the matter. One teammate who did counsel Culliver was safety Donte Whitner.

"The fact is there are people in the NFL that are gay and they're afraid to come out," Whitner told reporters. "I guarantee you there are guys in the NFL like that."

Advertisement

Whitner then said his basis for that statement wasn't via first-hand knowledge of a gay player but more an assumption when considering there are more than 1,500 players in the league.

"A lot of people are afraid to come out because they'd be scrutinized," Whitner said. "A lot of people are not comfortable in a locker room and being naked and walking around a gay guy."

Linebacker Patrick Willis sympathized with Culliver's plight, noting: "Chris is a great kid. He's just young and unfortunately the way it all came off, I know he didn't mean it in his heart."

Harbaugh echoed the 49ers' stance from a Wednesday statement and said he also "rejects" Culliver's anti-gay comments.

"I do believe that there wasn't malice in his heart," Harbaugh said Thursday. "He's not that kind of person. He's not an ugly person, not a discriminating person.

Culliver's role won't change Sunday as he'll serve as the 49ers' No. 3 cornerback and a key special-teams player against the Baltimore Ravens. "The game plan is still the same and we go forward from here," Culliver said.

Culliver wished he walked away from the incendiary interview with Lange, who opened by asking the black cornerback how many white women he would have sex with this week.

"His first question was very disrespectful and I felt offended," Culliver said. "There were so many people around and you can't get away from everybody. Guys like that shouldn't be there."

Culliver noted that he walked away from other reporters "harassing" him at media day, when over a thousand reporters interviewed players and coaches on the Superdome field.

Fellow cornerback Tarell Brown read the transcript of Culliver's interview and was appalled by the questioning.

"It was a crazy setup," Brown said. "I didn't think that was possible at the Super Bowl."

Brown noted, however, that Culliver was wrong for making the comments in the first place. Harbaugh thought so, too.

"It's going to impact him going forward," Harbaugh said. "He will learn about himself. I hope and pray it affects him in a positive way going forward.

"... That's not who he is and not what believes in," Harbaugh added. "It took the incident -- to hear those words being said, and to see them written on paper -- to realize those were hurtful and ugly. I really believe this is something he'll learn from."